http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/6682036 Charley Rosen / Special to FOXSports.com Posted: 2 days ago The Utah Jazz finally terminated their five-game losing streak by dumping the Mavs in Dallas, 104-89, on Friday night. But even though the victory just about clinched the fourth seed and home-court advantage in the opening round of the playoffs, the game also showcased the causes of Utah's late-season swoon. Let's look at the positives first: The Jazz controlled both backboards, totaling 50 rebounds to the Mavs' 26, and grabbing 15 offensive rebounds to the Mavs' seven. Carlos Boozer (15) takes up lots of space in the shadow of the hoop and has adhesive hands. Paul Milsap (seven rebounds in 20 minutes) acts more like a bully than a cowering rookie. And Mehmet Okur (seven) is another grab-handed, position rebounder. Utah's half-court offense is a precise amalgam of single and double curls off weak-side screens, back screens, back cuts, shuffle cuts, cross cuts, dive cuts, screen/fades (for Okur) and screens/rolls. Any defender who turns his head to peek at the ball is instantly victimized. Indeed, the Jazz are one of the few teams in the league who get layups and/or open looks as a direct and immediate result of their crisply functioning offensive sets. Against Dallas, they were 9 of 15 (with two free throws) whenever they executed Jerry Sloan's clever designs. Charley Rosen calls Utah's Deron Williams a superb point guard with excellent judgment and uncanny instincts. (Glenn James / Getty Images) The Jazz just might be the most unselfish team in the NBA. Forced shots are a rarity, and everybody makes the extra pass whenever possible. Deron Williams had nine assists, a fitting number for a point guard. But Boozer, the power forward, had seven assists. Overall, the Jazz registered 25 assists to go with their 37 baskets — as opposed to the Mavs' 18 and 33. Utah's roster is loaded with rough-tough, aggressive players who compete from the tip to the buzzer. Like Boozer, Milsap and Matt Harpring. Their generic belligerence is a vital factor in whatever success they have had. Williams is a superb young point man — creative with the ball, mostly under control, a deadly shooter and finisher and the possessor of excellent judgment and uncanny instincts. While Derek Fisher is vertically challenged, as well as being relatively slow and lacking in one-on-one moves for a shooting guard, his defense is crafty. To make up for his deficiencies, Fisher snipes entry passes, makes good rotations, draws charges, and menaces the passing lanes. Boozer has an excellent left hand, can knock down mid-range jumpers all night, and can drive and/or turn from both boxes in the low post. Okur is a sharp-shooting 7-footer, and Harpring never stops hustling. All told, that's quite a roll call of winning attributes. Okay, let's add up the negatives. Utah's most glaring weakness is its lack of speed and quickness. Williams is a thoroughbred, and so is rookie point guard Dee Brown. Unfortunately, everybody else moves like quarter horses. (The injured Andrei Kirilenko can motor, but too often merely runs amok.) Because of the team's slowness afoot, Utah's bigs have difficulty making timely interior rotations. Devin Harris and rookie J.J. Barea were repeatedly able to drive to the basket without being seriously contested. Nor can Utah's bigs play acceptable man-to-man defense, which compels the smalls to constantly two-time post-ups and certain isos. As a result, quick ball movement presents opponents with unopposed perimeter jumpers. In the game at hand, Dallas had a surplus of open sots, but missed too many of them — netting, for example, only 5 of 18 from the Great Beyond. How poorly do the Jazz's big men play defense? Kevin Willis, he of ancient days, beat Jason Collins with one of his trademark jump hooks, and for an encore, beat Collins with a spinning reverse layup. The Jazz must resort to zone defenses to keep opponents from routinely penetrating into the lane. When Utah's patterns fail to generate makeable shots, Williams is the only player who can create an advantage off the bounce. (Boozer can do the same to a limited degree, but needs lots of open space — and is severely hampered by quick double-teams.) Even when they do execute their offense, the Jazz lack the sheer athleticism to be dependable finishers. While their defensive transitioning is earnest, all five defenders tend to retreat into the lane and fail to tag three-point specialists. While Brown looks to pass and is a bona fide speedster, he can't shoot a lick, and is often reckless when he drives the ball into the bosom of the defense. The fact that Dallas had a lock on being the top seed throughout the playoffs was also an important mitigating factor that greatly contributed to Utah's win: Dirk Nowitzki played less than 30 minutes. Devin Harris played less than 27 minutes. Josh Howard brought up the rear of the sit parade with 31 minutes. Neither Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse nor Erick Dampier suited up for Dallas. Among Utah's MIA were Kirilenko and Gordan Giricek. Not a bad trade-off for the Jazz. For large portions of the contest, the Jazz competed against the Mavs' junior varsity. During one long stretch, for example, Dallas fielded a team composed of Willis, Barea, Austin Croshere, Mo Ager, and either Devean George or Greg Buckner. So, then, what conclusions can be elicited from this particular ball game? Utah's physicality, board-play, pass-work, and precision half-court offense will be huge advantages in the playoffs. But their lack of speed, athleticism, and creativity are gaping holes in their game plan that simply can't be filled with will-power. It's because the negatives outweigh the positives by such a considerable margin that the Jazz has floundered in the last several weeks. And if they're smart enough and aggressive enough to terrorize the league's weak sisters, the Jazz simply don't have enough bounce to upset any of the Western Conference's Big Three. Is Rosen trying to give himself a way out of the embarassment of rulling out the ROX in the first round? his negative points about the Jazz are well stated and all to our advantage. Jazz fans must be very worried now.
It was a good article you guys should read it. It was a bit more than the common rockets have potential crap everyone writes, it digs a little deeper. good find!
